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Another ’night’ passed for Ren, and again, it was close this time.

The Undead Sky Archons were becoming more and more relentless as time went on, especially after he collected the second section of the main inheritance.

His night begins with him being surrounded by thousands of zombies and variants already. And they’re in a berserk state too.

Although Ren has gotten ridiculously strong, they could still give him trouble if he got careless.

And since his night starts off like that, it’s not surprising that the Undead Sky Archons will also start appearing sooner for him.

The trial grounds were surely testing his limits, and it’s pushing him to the brink each night.

Ren would return to his dome victorious but also completely exhausted. So much so that he couldn’t even stand straight. He’s having to fight his very instinct to not just fall asleep where he stood because of how spent he was.

His saving grace? It’s the Green Lotus Core Martial Physique. The vitality and recovery boost it provided for the Green Lotus Core Technique allowed Ren to recover so fast. It also helped him adopt to the challenges that pushed him to his absolute limits each night.

Ren discovered that he’s becoming increasingly ravenous lately, though.

He prepared enough food and water to last for two years before he got here, but that’s under his assumption that his consumption wouldn’t change from the one he’s used to.

But just yesterday, he had already emptied his stock, which surprised him too. He honestly didn’t even notice that his appetite increased that much. He was just following his instincts when cooking, knowing if the food he was preparing would be enough for him or not.

Before he knew it, he had run out of food. Now, like others, he too has to buy supplies from the store available in this place.

Fortunately, food here was cheap. So was water.

Spending a total of 20 points should be enough to have enough supplies that last for the night and the next. That’s practically dirt-cheap. But for Ren, he needed more.

He has to spend 50 points to last him for a night.

Fortunately, this wasn’t a big deal for him. He could earn thousands of points with just a single punch the moment the night started, so spending this much on supplies doesn’t hurt him at all.

If anything, it’s just troublesome. Had he known that his appetite would increase, he should’ve brought more before coming. Probably enough to last for five years, just to be safe. But he failed to anticipate that, so he’ll have to do with an alternate option.

It’s fine, though. Honestly, the food that the store sold wasn’t bad to begin with. Additionally, they were already cooked to perfection, saving him time.

It lacks a little bit of seasoning for his liking, though, and the options are limited to stews; fried or deep-fried; roasted; baked; steamed; and blanched.

The store sells raw ingredients too, which was nice. And Ren actually prefers cooking his own food, something he’s grown used to since living alone; that’s why he chose to buy the raw ingredients instead.

Of course, it’s also because they’re cheaper than the ready-to-eat meals.

Before he knew it, though, Ren had already spent 9 months in here.

Yes, it has been that long since this whole incident happened. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Surprisingly, Ren discovered that he didn’t really miss the human world that much. Or maybe he did, but because he was way too occupied every single day, he just forgot to long for it.

Anyways, he’s been fine.

This place was still as dark and as depressing as ever, but Ren had long grown used to that. This reclusive lifestyle reminded him of his days in the clan, the time when he was still following his bland and boring routine every single day, honing his basics and trying to seize every moment he could to increase his strength so he could start raiding dungeons.

Such might be the life of a martial artist, though. Loneliness becomes a friend at some point.

Though, he would admit that he’d like to talk to someone else that’s not from the clan.

Distantly, he recalled the Green Tea Party.

Although they’ve disbanded due to trouble, he still remembers them fondly. He knew that they too were in this with him.

He thought about reaching them, because he definitely could. If he could call across dimensions, then how could he not do the same to others who are in the same place as he was?

But in the end, he didn’t do so. Honestly, he didn’t want to say. Aside from checking on their state and catching up, what else do they have to talk about?

Besides, he feels guilty somehow. Because he knew that, even though they’ve been disbanded and had their own difficulties, in their minds, they’re still holding on to little hope that things might change for the better and they could be reunited too.

That’s wishful thinking, though. Ren was absolutely sure about that.

And things would just get worse after this. In fact, everything that happened so far was just a warm-up.

Even if, by some miracle, he was wrong and the timeline diverges beyond his comprehension and made it possible for the Green Tea Party to be reunited, Ren couldn’t say for certain that he’d be returning.

Although they were fond of the time he spent with Derek and the rest, he had always known that he wouldn’t be with them forever. He joined that party knowing that, one day, he would leave to pursue greater heights.

Heights that, unfortunately, the members of the party will never lay their eyes on.

Their parting was a bittersweet one, but at least it’s peaceful. Ren preferred to close that Chapter of his life that way, instead of insisting to the point of everything turning just bitter.

Anyways...

Ren is in possession of the 2nd section of the Godly Sky Archon’s inheritance, and he’s also closing in on the 3rd.

He had improved so much by now. His research and study of the Sky Archon Arts gave way to a lot of improvements that are valuable for someone like him who heavily relies on his bare physique to fight.

Ren could pummel any Pulse Awakening Stage martial artist to tears at this point, and he wouldn’t even need to put some serious effort into doing so.

But of course, he knows that he’s not the only one who’s improving and studying the Sky Archon Arts.

Humanity had started integrating the knowledge of the Sky Archons the moment they discovered how closely similar the disciplines were between them.

GMU was spearheading its development because they too see this as a vast improvement on humanity’s martial arts, and they cannot fall behind. That’s why they haven’t banned the Sky Archon Arts just yet.

Not that humans could use the Sky Archon Arts, anyway. Although similar, it has been proven that the energy that sky archons use to fight was exclusive to their race. They could be replicated by chakra, though, but it’s not always a 1:1 replication.

Chances are, adjustments were needed, mainly because Sky Archons heavily invested in their bodies and their wings, and humans don’t have wings.

But yes, Ren wasn’t the only one improving. Everybody, who’s smart enough to grasp the logic and opportunity right before them, would also strive to understand and apply the disciplines they’ve learned to strengthen themselves.

In the canon timeline, the value of the Sky Archon Arts to humanity was too immense. It practically propelled the development of martial arts forward by at least hundreds of years.

And even to the very end, the Hero relied on the Godly Sky Archon’s inheritance to fight his battles and survive encounters that could’ve killed him.

This shows just how valuable the entire inheritance was, and it just so happens that amongst the many who could’ve benefited from this inheritance, humans were the biggest winners.

That’s why Ren treated everything with respect and utmost seriousness. It’s a bigger deal for him since Sky Archons, like the Banished Arms Clan, don’t heavily rely on weapons to fight. They put their faith and trust in their bodies.

This was the biggest opportunity to change the clan for the better, one that Ren could access this early. That’s why he’s fighting for the Godly Sky Archon inheritance.

He wants it, not just because he knows how it greatly benefits the Hero till the end, but also because it’s a way out for him and his clan.

Right now, he doesn’t give a damn about the ’Hero,’ who was still desperately trying to reject the reality he now lived in. Ren was more concerned about himself and the clan’s immediate future.

Regardless of whether this inheritance still lands in the hands of the hero later doesn’t matter all that much to him, so long as Ren gets it first.

There’s no reason he wouldn’t be able to. After all, he could barely recall anybody who’s come this close to the main inheritance this quick.